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Date

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15/09/1925

Description

"A lazy maiden was married to a warrior, whose duties on the battlefield kept him away from home. One such night, the bride was awakened by a clatter, and saw hundreds of little men, dressed just like Japanese warriors but only about an inch high, making merry at her. "We are the Chin - chin Kobakama; the hour is late; sleep honorabe noble darling!" they chanted, teasing her as they sang and danced. They appeared every night thereafter, and the warrior's wife gradually fell ill. When her husband came back, she told him of the men, and he waited for their appearance that night. When they began to pop out of the soft "tatami" mats of woven straw, he cut them down with his sword, and they all changed into toothpicks, scattering on the mats. Because of her slothful ways, his wife was in the habit of sticking used toothpicks between mats instead of properly discarding them. The husband scolded her and had a retainer burn the toothpicks. The little men never again appeared." (Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, https://www.kufs.ac.jp/toshokan/chirimenbon/b_32.html)